


First Touch

by sapphiclabvibes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Flirting, First Meetings, Fist Fights, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Kinda, Lance takes care of Keith, M/M, Medic Lance, Minor Violence, james griffin is a dick, mlm/wlw solidarity, past ryan kinkade/lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 10:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18363767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphiclabvibes/pseuds/sapphiclabvibes
Summary: Keith didn’t fit in at this school.  All of his classmates were the kids of millionaires and celebrities and politicians.  They had trust funds that could pay for Keith’s tuition seven times over and still allow them to live comfortably into their eighties.He was a scholarship kid who got in on the good graces of his older brother.  He wasn’t part of any clubs or sports teams - he didn’t even live in the dorms with the other students.  He wasn’t supposed to be noticed here.





	First Touch

**Author's Note:**

> i'm gonna put this here one last time: this work includes homophobic slurs and mild violence. please do not read if that is a trigger for you.
> 
> anyway here's my fic for the first week of monthly klance prompts for april: first meeting/touch

Keith didn’t fit in at this school. All of his classmates were the kids of millionaires and celebrities and politicians. They had trust funds that could pay for Keith’s tuition seven times over and still allow them to live comfortably into their eighties.

He was a scholarship kid who got in on the good graces of his older brother. He wasn’t part of any clubs or sports teams - he didn’t even live in the dorms with the other students. He wasn’t supposed to be noticed here.

But he still got into fights. That seemed to be the common factor wherever he went: everyone always wanted to pick a fight with him.

Keith hit the gravel face first for the third time. The people surrounding him jeered as he spit dirt out of his mouth and rose shakily to his feet. It was always the same asshole who started this.

James Griffin sneered and loosened his tie. “Why don’t you just go back to the trailer park where you were born?” he shouted. “You’d fit in a lot better there. Is it because your dad’s a drunk? Or does your mom not want her kid around while she’s taking a guy’s load?”

Keith let out a yell and lunged at James. They both went down in a flurry of fists, rolling around in the dirt as they both tried to come out on top. James managed to get away and jumped to his feet. Before Keith could do the same, he felt a sharp kick to his ribs. He groaned and rolled onto his side. The kicks kept coming.

James didn’t stop yelling things at him. Keith laid there and listened, too tired to continue fighting back. He just stared at James’s shoes and wondered how much they cost.

“You’re mom’s a whore.”

Kick.

“Bastard.”

Kick.

“Worthless piece of shit.”

Kick kick kick.

“Fucking faggot.”

Keith braced himself for the next blow but it never came. He heard the sound of an impact but there was no pain associated with it.

Behind him, the crowd parted and a new pair of shoes came into view. They were orange converse, dirty from years of wear and tear. The owner of the shoes stopped just in front of his face, but whoever it was faced James.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Griffin?”

The voice was female and angry. Keith looked up to see James still glaring at him, but the girl standing between them kept him at bay.

“I asked you a question,” the girl repeated. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“He needs to learn some respect,” James spat. “Nobody in the trailer park ever taught him some fucking manners.”

He took a step forward, but before he could get close to Keith the girl slapped him across the face. Everyone froze. James just stared at her, and Keith swore he saw fear in the other boy’s eyes.

“Let me let you in on a little secret, Griffin,” the girl said, all her words calculated. “Nobody here respects you. Nobody here likes you because you do shit like this. Your family’s new money isn’t gonna last for very long if they have to keep buying your way into schools and out of scrapes with the law. So why don’t you keep your fucking mouth shut before I take you to court for harassment.”

James looked pale but he nodded. The girl turned and offered a hand to Keith. She had thin rectangular glasses resting on her nose and short brown hair stopping just short of her shoulders. Her ears were covered in silver piercings.

Keith rose unsteadily and leaned against her as they walked. Once they were out of earshot of the crowd, the girl spoke.

“I’m Veronica, by the way,” she said. “I’m taking you to the infirmary.”

“I know the way,” Keith mumbled. He knew there were bruises forming on his abdomen and there was a good chance at least one of his ribs was no longer fully intact.

“Oh yeah? And how do I know you won’t run back to Griffin after I leave and finish the job?”

Keith kept his mouth shut, confirming her thoughts. He’d planned to wait a few days, but he wanted to hit back hard against Griffin. His fists clenched just thinking about it.

“He’s a dick. Not worth your time,” Veronica said. “He bombarded my girlfriend with threats when we first started dating. He promised to turn her straight every time he saw us together. The only way to shut him up is to bring up lawyers.”

Veronica’s jaw was set in a tight line as she talked. The knuckles on the hand that gripped the strap of her backpack were white.

“Well, I don’t have lawyers on retainer like everyone else here.” Keith smiled, trying to lighten the mood. “Guess I’ll just have to show him how we deal with homophobic fucks in the trailer park.”

That earned him a laugh from Veronica as she opened the door to the infirmary. It was empty, as usual, with only the on-call nurse sitting behind a desk.

“I have a patient for you, Curtis,” Veronica singsonged, pushing Keith in front of her.

Curtis looked Keith up and down with a warm smile. “This your doing, Ronnie?” he asked with a light laugh.

“When have I ever personally escorted the guys I beat up to you?”

“Well, I’m about to go to a staff meeting but your brother is in the back. I’m sure he’d be willing to help your friend out.”

Keith thought he saw a glint in the man’s eye as he hurried past them out the door. Veronica was smiling too as she pushed him to the back of the infirmary.

“I have a class right now, but I know Lance will take good care of you,” she rambled. “Lance! _Hermano, ¿dondé estas?_ ”

One of the curtains that divided the beds was dramatically thrown aside to reveal a boy looking particularly annoyed. He wore the same navy blue pants and white shirt as Keith, but his school blazer was missing and his sleeves had been rolled up to reveal his forearms. He was also missing his tie and the top button of his shirt was undone.

_Dammit_ , Keith thought. _He’s hot._

“What the hell did you do, Ronnie?” Lance asked as he took in the sight of Keith.

“Why does everyone think that me bringing in a beaten up guy means I did something to him?”

Veronica took a step back. “I trust you know what to do? I have to be across campus in five minutes.”

Lance waved her out the door, still studying the bruises forming under Keith’s skin.

“You fall down a flight of stairs or something?” he asked once his sister had left.

Keith shook his head. “Some idiot jumped me. Didn’t have time to fight back.”

“I’m sure. Sit down. I need to get some things.”

Keith chose the closest bed and watched Lance scuttle around, opening practically every cabinet in the place. He winced as pain from his side shot through the rest of his abdomen, but the other boy was too busy looking through bottles to notice.

He was fascinated with how Lance seemed to have a routine for choosing what to grab; he would open the door, study its contents, look back at Keith for a quick moment, then decide what he needed. This continued until the other boy had a bottle of antiseptic in one hand and a package of gauze in the other.

“Did you know the idiot?” Lance asked, turning back to Keith. “The guy who beat you up, I mean.”

“Griffin,” he replied.

Lance pulled up a chair beside the bed, his expression grim. “Can’t say I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him. Veronica has told me enough stories, though. And I dated his friend Ryan for a bit. You can probably tell how that ended, seeing as how he’s still at James’s side.”

Keith tried very hard to suppress his smile. Lance had dated boys before. Lance was into boys. He wanted to jump for joy.

Instead, he straightened up a little and then immediately regretted it. He winced at the pain again, but Lance didn’t seem to notice.

“I can’t do anything about the bruises,” he said, soaking a piece of gauze in antiseptic. “Those will have to heal on their own. But I can clean up the cuts on your face. How did you get those anyway?”

He pressed the gauze to the first cut and Keith hissed as it stung. He could tell Lance was smiling, but he didn’t look to make sure.

“He fights dirty,” Keith said. “He had a couple rings on when he hit me.”

Lance just hummed in understanding, completely caught up in making sure all of the cuts were cleaned. Every so often, his unoccupied hand would reach up and turn Keith’s chin so he could get a new angle. The soft, uninvasive touch made Keith shiver.

“I never got your name,” Lance said.

It was the first time either of them had spoken in several minutes and it took Keith’s brain a moment to realize that the boy touching his face didn’t really know who he was.

“Keith,” he breathed. Then, louder and more forceful, “Keith Kogane.”

“Keith Kogane.” His name sounded so good coming from Lance. He wanted to sit there and listen to him say it over and over again.

Lance didn’t say anything else after that, too busy making sure Keith didn’t get an infection. At one point, he held Keith’s hands as he wiped at the skin that had split open when Keith had managed to land a few good punches. He sat there and tried not to think about how cute Lance looked with his eyebrows knit together in concentration.

“I cannot wait to see what botched job Griffin comes in with,” Lance said, finally breaking the silence. “I’ve always wanted to see a real live Frankenstein.”

Keith let out a laugh that turned into a wince. Lance looked up from his hands.

“Is everything alright?”

“He kicked me while I was down,” Keith said, gently touching his stomach. “Pretty sure I’ve got some nice bruises there too.”

Lance set down the gauze and the antiseptic. “Take your shirt off.”

“Buy me dinner first.”

Lance rolled his eyes, but Keith could see that he was starting to blush. “I need to make sure none of your ribs are broken. You don’t have to take it all the way off if you’re uncomfortable.”

Keith undid the buttons of his dirty uniform shirt until his bare torso was on display. Looking down, he could see the bruises beginning to form.

“I’m going to press down on certain places,” Lance explained. “I need you to tell me if it hurts.”

Keith nodded.

Lance’s hands were warmer and softer than he expected. They moved expertly against his skin, pressing down just enough to make the pain from the bruises smart through Keith’s torso. He didn’t mind the pain if it meant Lance kept touching him.

“Well, that’s, uh, good news,” he said, taking his hands away and placing them firmly on his thighs. “All your ribs are intact. Just try not to get in anymore fights.”

_He’s definitely blushing_ , Keith thought with a grin.

“Is that the only way I’ll get to see you again?” he asked aloud.

His heart was pounding in his chest but he had to ask. He had to know that this shitty day could end with him getting a cute boy’s number.

Lance opened and closed his mouth several times before hiding his face in his hands. He shook his head and sighed before looking up into Keith’s face. Keith could see clearly that his eyes were a very deep blue. He wondered how he hadn’t noticed them earlier.

“I work here every day after my classes get out,” he said. “I’m usually done around six.”

“So you’re telling me to get beat up in that timeframe?”

Lance sighed and pulled a pen from his pocket. He scribbled down a line of numbers onto the bottom of a notepad and handed it to Keith.

“If you show up here again looking like a punching bag again, I’ll block you,” he threatened. His smile dispelled any malice he might have tried to convey.

“At least I know where to find you.”

Keith buttoned up his shirt and shoved the piece of paper into his pocket. He was already formulating his first text to Lance in his head. Would he be flirty? Aloof? Casual? Did Lance like jokes? Would his jokes be properly conveyed over text?

He gathered his stuff, head still swimming with questions, and marched toward the door. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice the door was closed until he ran into it. He stumbled back a few steps, face burning. Behind him, Lance stifled a laugh.

“You alright?” he asked, still trying to suppress his laughter.

“Yep. Fine.”

Keith didn’t look back as he yanked the door open and practically ran out of the infirmary.

As he walked through the campus to Shiro’s office, he gently touched his stomach in the same way Lance had. His fingers were a lot rougher than Lance’s, but he could still imagine what the other boy’s touch had felt like against his skin. He smiled at the memory and how Lance’s face had turned red when Keith tried to flirt with him.

Keith was still smiling as he pushed open the door to his brother’s office. Shiro looked up from his laptop, then froze when he saw the state of Keith’s face.

“Jesus Christ, what happened to you?” he asked, circling his desk to get a closer look.

Keith just grinned up at him. “I met a boy.”

**Author's Note:**

> should i stick with the boarding school au for the whole month? i'm kinda into it
> 
> tumblr: sapphiclabvibes
> 
> leave a comment to water my crops and shoo away my depression! : )


End file.
